Hurricane Florence breaks 28 streamflow records in Carolinas

RALEIGH, N.C. – A federal report shows Hurricane Florence broke records in a key flooding measure at more than two-dozen stream gauges in the Carolinas.

The U.S. Geological Survey released a report Tuesday on streamflow, which measures how much water passes a fixed point at a river or stream. Records were broken at 18 gauges in North Carolina and 10 in South Carolina.

All had more than a decade of data, some more than 70 years. The Waccamaw River in Freeland, North Carolina, peaked at 53,600 cubic feet (1,518 cubic meters) per second on Sept. 19 — the most since recording started there in 1940. In South Carolina, the Little Pee Dee River in Galivants Ferry peaked Sept. 21 at 66,900 cubic feet (1,894 cubic meters) per second, the largest in 77 years.